India has told North Korea that if it wants an “honest relationship” with it, then it will need to factor in New Delhi’s concerns about its nuclear weapons-programme and tests.

India has indicated that it will not show any haste in inking the Border Defence Cooperation Agree-ment (BDCA) with China. The agreement was proposed by Beijing some months ago.

Seeking to assuage India’s concerns on Afghanistan, the US has assured it that the concers will neither be “overlooked nor undermined”. Washington has also told New Delhi that it will “consult very closely with it and others in the region” on matters concerning Afghanistan.

In a bid to give fresh momentum to bilateral ties, which have slowed in recent years, India and the US have agreed to set a September target for signing the commercial agreement between the two entities representing them.

The United States appeared to back off on Sunday in its attempts to engage with the Afghan Taliban with visiting US secretary of state John Kerry emphasising the role of both the Afghan government an

India has come out in strong support of Afghan President Hamid Karzai following his spat with the US over its overtures to the Taliban by stating that the reconciliation process should not seek to create “equivalence” between the Afghan government and insurgent groups.

India is hoping to give a fresh impetus to its age-old ties with Iraq, with external affairs minister Salman Khurshid headed for Baghdad on a two-day visit beginning June 19. His visit, the first high-level visit to Iraq by an Indian leader in at least a decade, will be aimed at re-establishing the political dialogue at the senior level with the Iraqi leadership.

Acknowledging the need to maintain “peace and tranquility” along their border, India and China agreed on Monday to “push forward” negotiations on the boundary question and “seek a framework for a fair

Doing some tough-talking with visiting Chinese Premier Li Kequiang on Sunday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh raised the issue of the recent incursion by PLA troops in the Depsang Plains area of Ladakh.

Doing some tough talking with visiting Chinese Premier Li Kequiang on Sunday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh raised the issue of the recent incursion by PLA troops in Ladakh’s Depsang area, and emphasi